A Coming Out Party [2006]

[Christian Kennedy]

While it did not have a catchy nickname in the ilk of its Muggle equivalent, the Estate of the U.S. Bureau's Secretary of Magic was equally impressive and luxurious - distractions from his work that the current Secretary, Christian Kennedy, did not need. There were pressing matters of national security that required his attention, and two years into his second term in office, there were countless tasks which still needed to be done. Though there was no limit on the number of terms that an individual could serve as Secretary of Magic, Christian strongly believed in the Muggle principle that limiting people to two terms was necessary to ensure the continuity of Democracy.

Today was another important day for Christian, the Bill he had spent the last six years working on was nearly ready to go before the Bureau's Congress, and Christian was preparing for one final speech before the Representatives in order to curry as much support as he possibly could.

There was certainly a matter of "national security" going on for Zachary, he wasn't a nation but he was a person, so perhaps there was a matter of personal security. Regardless, today Zachary had mustered up the strength to go to his brothers office. And tell him. This was going to be beyond difficult, a feat very hard to complete.

Zachary rushed up the stairs to the office, and proceeded to knock on the door. Having gone through proper security checks, he didn't care in particular for them but he did look rather worried. Zach cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He hoped, that his brother would love him still.

[Christian Kennedy]

"It's open." Christian called out, never being one to bother locking his office door. What with the amount of security one had to get through to even get onto the property, let alone into the building itself, it hardly even made a difference at that point. And so, rather than get up and walk over to the door, Christian continued pouring over the detailed documents before him.

Zachary took one final deep breath, before opening the door and wandered into the office. He looked upon his brother and walked up to his desk very quietly. Only his feet tapped against the carpeted floor. He closed his eyes as he walked up to the desk, looking a bit sweaty and nervous. He clammed up. "H-Hey, Christian.." Zach spoke nervously.

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian, of course, recognized his brother's voice immediately, and he looked up from his notes and said "Zachary, you should have told me you were coming - you must have spent forever getting through security." Christian, of course, could have whisked Zachary right in had he known in advance that his brother was stopping by - saving him quite a bit of hassle. Even if you were the Secretary's brother, it seemed, they still had to go through the motions.

Not noticing his brother's obvious discomfort, Christian rounded the desk and clapped his brother on the shoulder saying "How've you been Zach? Has dad run you ragged yet with all of his 'business training'?" Zachary was preparing to take over as CEO of Kennedy Wandmakers and Kennedy Broomstick Manufacture, and there was no doubt that their father was keeping Zachary up all hours of the night in preparation for the day when he would run the two companies.

Zachary smiled nervously and nodded, "Thanks, but that wouldn't have been necessary..." Zach chuckled, still rather uncomfortably as he looked over to his brother. His eyes playing up the fact that he was intensely nervously, his hands were quite sweaty and kept rubbing them together as if to wipe off the moisture collecting there. He fiddled with a loose string in his button-up shirt that was untucked at the moment.

Being clapped on the shoulder, he almost stumbled, "I've been alright.. Y-Yeah, dad's really been working me..." Zach tried to laugh again, he did look quite tired though it was perhaps not because of the business training but because of how many nights he had not slept, mentally preparing himself for this moment. Clearing his throat a moment later, he looked around and pulled on the well-ironed collar of his shirt. Looking over to his brother, "Could we go somewhere less..Grand..?" He asked.

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian laughed and gave Zachary a quick once over before saying "Yup, you look even more worn out than me - and that's saying something bro!" Christian gave a quick glance back at his papers when his brother asked if they could go somewhere less 'grand' and replied "Of course we can Zach - did you have anywhere in mind?"

Being told that they could go somewhere less grand, Zach nodded feeling more comfortable that way. Though he really had no idea as to where they could possibly go. "Um..." He clenched up his jaw, thinking on the topic. "I suppose, outside..?" He asked, with a lifted eyebrow.

[Christian Kennedy]

"That works for me." Christian said, gesturing towards the door and saying "After you." as they were on the second floor they would have to head through the rest of the building in order to get outside, but that would not take them very long at all - and it was quite beautiful out there.

Zachary nodded, "Alright.." He then wandered out of the office and down the two levels. This time, there was no going through security checks and so he just walked. Once they were outside, Zachary took another deep breath and looked to Christian. "So.. You love me, right..?"

[Christian Kennedy]

It took them a few minutes to get outside, though they were held up for a few moments when Christian had a minor argument with his Head of Security - who wanted him to be accompanied by a member of his Secret Service outside, but of course, Christian pointed out that no one could get onto the grounds without passing through his agents in the first place. The protection around the position of the Secretary of Magic had increased dramatically in the final year of his predecessor's tenure, most likely motivated by the attempts on Christian's life during the campaign of 2000.

The argument annoyed Zachary a bit, he was already nervous this was not at all necessary. However once they were outside, Zach closed his eyes and just stood there. "Okay.... So...." Everything seemed to heat up for him, it was like he was standing on fire or something of that sort. He balled his hands into fists, as if to reassure himself that this was okay to do. "You... Love me... Right, Christian..?" He averted his gaze from his brother for a moment.

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian blinked twice at Zachary's question, looking at his younger brother strangely as he replied "Of course I do Zach, you're my brother - I could never stop loving you." Christian wasn't sure why Zachary was asking him this, it felt an awful lot like the conversation that they'd had right after Christian had gotten disowned, and Christian didn't like it. did Zach doubt that he loved him? Did he question whether Christian really meant what he said?

Zachary nodded, "Okay.. Th-That's good..." The younger brother, looked uncomfortable. He tried to smile, he wanted to make this experience for both of them as positive as possible. "Okay...." He took a deep breath and nodded, rocking back and forth. He stammered and trembled a bit, but finally he made eye contact with his brother. "Christian.. I'm.... Gay...."

[Christian Kennedy]

By this point it was readily obvious to Christian that there was something very wrong with Zach, and he was about to open his mouth to ask his brother it he was okay when the boy finally got to the point of what was bothering him and blurted out his confession. "Say what now?" Christian asked, quite stunned by this sudden statement, and not quite processing what was going on.

Zachary looked down ashamed of himself, when his brother seemed to look shocked. "..I-I'm ..." He was becoming more and more nervous as this went on, he was quite confident Christian was going to tell him to leave him alone. "I-I'm g-g-..." He was becoming very visibly twitchy, "..G-Gay...." He had to put in all of his efforts in just not tearing up and breaking down.

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian blinked in mute surprise, looking at his brother for any suggestion that he might be joking - finding none. Christian thought that he knew Zachary quite well, but if this was true then it had caught him completely off guard. "You're serious?" Christian asked, perhaps a bit insensitive given the circumstances, but he just wanted to make sure this was all for real.

"No! This is an April Fool's joke! Got you!" Zachary, looked really upset as he said this, well, more like yelled. He wasn't exactly joking, and his brother not taking him seriously was very hurtful, he looked down at his feet and clasped his hands behind his back. "Yes, I'm serious.. Why would I joke about something like that?" He asked, avoiding Christian's eyes.

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian looked rather chastised at this remark, looking away from Zach as he rubbed the back of his neck and replied "Okay, that was a stupid thing to say - I'm sorry." Christian put his hand on Zachary's shoulder reassuringly and said "Well I mean, if you are Zach, that's okay." Luckily for Zachary, Christian's best friend Holden Cartwright had come out during their Seventh Year at Salem - and while Christian's reaction at the time had been far from favorable he had gotten used to the idea over time.

Zachary nodded, and when his brother accepted him the younger one hugged him almost immediately. Feeling accepted, and a bit of a warmth bloom in his chest, something of a burden lifted from him. Now, how was he going to tell the parents? That would be interesting on multiple levels. "Just don't tell dad.... Or mom... Or .. Anyone.." He sighed.

[Christian Kennedy]

"Course I won't." Christian replied, trying his best not to laugh - though this was not a funny situation in the slightest the idea that he would tell their parents about this was mildly comical. "I'll let you tell them when you're ready." he said, knowing that it would be harder - but better - that way.

Zachary nodded in silence, he felt that it would be best that he tell the parents, it would be hard much more difficult than telling his brother knowing what his father and his mother could possibly do to him, disown him for example. But, he knew, that in time he would be able to get over it and tell them. Somehow.

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian noted the boy's silence, and he drew his brother a little closer before smiling and saying encouragingly "Hey, come on Zach - it'll be okay! I'm sure that Nick'll be the same way as me about this - we don't care! And if mum and dad throw a fit, well that's their problem!"

Zachary sighed in a bit of depression when his brother had said that if the parents throw a fit, "Well I don't want them to throw a fit, Christian. I don't want to be, as awful as this sounds, disowned like you. I have nothing going for me other than this heir-job..."

[Christian Kennedy]

Christian frowned at Zach's words before pointing out "Well...things are different now. Ever since...well." Christian rubbed the back of his neck, the both of them knowing what he was talking about. "If dad's willing to consider me part of the family again, I doubt he's going to pull something like that on you."